White House plans faster resettlement of Afghan refugees: report

The Biden administration is planning to hasten settling Afghan refugees following the August collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, according to a report in Axios.

The outlet cited a source with direct knowledge of the internal talks on the issue. 

The new plan could send refugees now based at a U.S. military site in Qatar to the United States as part of a 30-day process. 

Afghans would be screened, vetted, approved for refugee status and transported to the U.S. over the span of one month, according to the report, which noted that it can take five years to complete the screening process. 

There has been bipartisan support for resettling Afghans who helped U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the site of America’s longest war. There have also been fears that the return of the Taliban government in that country could lead to reprisals against Afghans who helped the United States. Yet others have expressed fears about how women in Afghanistan will be treated under Taliban control.

“There is more work to do, which is why we are exploring a variety of innovations to streamline the resettlement process and eliminate redundancies, while maintaining the robust health and screening and vetting processes,” a National Security Council spokesperson told Axios.

The resettlement of refugees has at times created controversies in local communities. 

A state lawmaker in Arizona, John Kavanagh, complained in a post on Twitter this week about Afghan refugees being “dumped” in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“We don’t know who is coming here, why they’re coming here and what security precautions are gonna be enacted to protect the community,” Kavanagh said in a video message. He also questioned the vetting of the refugees.